The words “Made in the USA” mean something. It’s not just about flag waving and nationalism; the term tells us that the ideas and ingenuity behind a product originate nearby and serve the needs of people in our extended community. In today’s global economy, however, it doesn’t always mean that every part comes from America. Today, there are very few products that can make that claim. If any industry gets a bad rap for the under-representation of U.S.
products, it’s the dirt-bike business. I reject that notion. If you look back, you’ll find that few countries have done more to shape today’s off-road motorcycles. American thinking has resulted in a great deal of innovation and progress, even if the actual casting, machining and assembly takes place elsewhere. Here are just a few of the motorcycles that come to mind. HODAKA
In the early ‘60s, Hodaka provided the spark that ignited the dirt bike explosion. An American team in Athena, Oregon designed, engineered and tested motorcycles specifically for the U.S.
market. The idea was simple enough; build a lightweight motorcycle that was robust enough to withstand all the abuse that a generation of baby boomers could dish out. The initial street-legal Ace 90 was succeeded by a 100 and a 125, as well as competition models like the Super Rat and the Combat Wombat.
The actual manufacturing and assembly took place at various facilities in Japan, but the brand was owned and operated by the Pacific Basin Trading Company (PABATCO) in Oregon until 1978, when the operation closed down in the face of aggressive competition. PENTON
If not for John Penton, KTM motorcycles would have remained an obscure company making small street bikes and mopeds in Mattighofen, Austria for the European market. But, in 1967, Ohio motorcycle racer John Penton commissioned a prototype off-road competition bike, built to his specifications using a 100cc German Sachs motor.
That first prototype cost $6000 to build. The result was the establishment of Penton motorcycles and a booming business that influenced companies like Honda, Yamaha and even Husqvarna. KTM bought out Penton in 1978. As a side note, early rules at the International Six-Day Enduro required each nation’s Trophy Team to be mounted on motorcycles that were made in its own country. The acknowledgement that Penton was an American brand allowed the first U.S.
Trophy Team in 1972. HARLEY-DAVIDSON
Harley-Davidson history buffs can go on and on about the years of AMF ownership, but one big milestone was a full buyout of the Italian Aermacchi factory. That factory produced the only true dirt bikes to carry the Harley-Davidson name.
The 1970 Baja 100 was conceived in the U.S. and raced in the desert by Americans like Bruce Ogilvie and Larry Roeseler.
Then came the MX250 which was specifically designed for the U.S. The prototype was built at a dealership in San Bernardino with money coming from the factory in Milwaukee.
The motor was based on a dual-sport bike, but the frame was a C&J, the shocks were Works Performance and so on. It won the 1975 Baja 500 and finished as high as fourth in national motocross with Marty Tripes. In 1978, Cagiva purchased the Aermacchi factory from AMF, and the whole Harley-Davidson off-road racing program abruptly ended. ROKON
Rokon is a truly innovative company that started out in California and migrated to New England. The company dates back to 1958, and is known for designs like two-wheel drive, automatic clutches, torque converter transmissions and disc brakes. In the ‘70s, Rokon had factory-backed race efforts and even sent a team to the ISDT.
Today, the two-wheel drive Trail-Breaker is still being manufactured in New Hampshire with imported motors. The company caters to hunters and outdoorsmen. YANKEE 500
Back in 1971, Yankee Motor Company was the U.S. distributor for Ossa motorcycles, out of Schenectady, New York.
It was run by an interesting group of characters led by John Taylor. Paul Dean, who later became the editor of Cycle World Magazine, was service manager, and AMA Hall of Famer Barry Higgins was a racer/test rider. That melting pot of enthusiasm eventually led to the creation of the Yankee 500.
Taylor commissioned Ossa to build a custom twin-cylinder two-stroke engine by combining two 250cc top-ends into a single crankcase. He then had a frame built in New York. It was the first dual-sport bike to offer a disc rear brake.
The Yankee 500 was only on the market for a year or two, but remains a highly desired collector piece. AMMEX
In 1975, Gary Jones broke his leg at the Daytona Supercross, ending his three-year run as U.S. 250 National Motocross Champion. During his year-long rehab, he and his father Don Jones embarked on a quest to create their own motocross bike.
The result was Ammex. Gary and Don bought the rights and tooling to the bankrupt Cooper motorcycle, which was manufactured in Saltillo, Mexico, by the company Moto Islo. They redesigned everything. Some aspects of the Ammex were innovative and competitive, while others were dated from the very start. Gary raced the bike himself with some promising results, but the whole venture came to a sudden end in late 1977 when the peso crashed on international currency markets.
ATK CHAPTER 1
Horst Leitner was an Austrian engineer who emigrated to the U.S. in 1980. He was responsible for a number of patents and inventions, but the one he became best known for was the [Anti-Tension Kettenantrie] (ATK), which was a design intended to isolate chain torque reaction from rear suspension movement.
He originally built a prototype motorcycle to showcase that invention, but a series of deals and events resulted in a limited production run of ATK motorcycles. They used C&J frames with Austrian Rotax motors, both four-stroke and two-stroke. The demand soon increased beyond Horst’s ability to produce complete motorcycles, and by 1991, he was ready to get out of the motorcycle-making business and return to his passion for invention. ATK CHAPTER 2
The next coming of ATK came under the stewardship of Ken Wilks, who was the owner of a medical supply company in Commerce, California. Ken was a huge fan of Horst Leitner and the ATK brand.
With his knowledge of manufacturing, Ken felt he could meet demand and he set up an assembly line within the same plant where he produced Kenpack I.V. bags. The basic design changed very little in this period, but one notable innovation was the incorporation of electronic fuel injection in 1992. ATK CHAPTER 3
In 1993, ATK changed hands once again.
Frank White led a group of Utah investors and Swedish engineers to relocate and redesign the bikes. The next home for ATK was Bountiful, Utah where new-generation Rotax-powered motorcycles were soon produced in respectable numbers. The frame for the four-stroke models was asymmetrical, with a single spar running from the left side of the steering head to the swingarm pivot. On the same side, an off-center WP shock was used without linkage. The design was light, but there were, understandably, some issues with flex. The two-strokes used a more conventional frame design.
CANNONDALE
Much has been said about Cannondale’s brief sojourn into the motorcycle world and very little is accurate. The motorcycle was ambitious, to say the least. It was a fuel-injected four-stroke with a reverse head and aluminum frame.
In 1999, none of those designs were mainstream, but Cannondale’s CEO Joe Montgomery believed in his team and believed they had the ability to buck conventional thought. In the end, the production motorcycle was flawed, but that’s not what caused the company’s downfall. Cannondale was caught up in the dot-com Wall Street crash that started in March 2000. It hit them at the worst possible moment, and Cannondale was forced into bankruptcy by 2003. ATK CHAPTER 4
Cannondale’s misfortune resulted in a fresh start for ATK. By the 2000s, the supply of Rotax engines dried up and the assembly line in Utah came to a stop.
Frank White searched for a new motor supplier overseas and even sold some Maico motorcycles under the ATK name. Then he acquired the abandoned inventory of Cannondale motorcycles and parts, and by 2005, ATK was back in business. It wasn’t a turn-key operation, though. All of the pistons had to be redesigned and installed in already-assembled engines.
The EFI systems had to be remapped and many parts had to be made from scratch. But, the ATK saga continued well into the 21st century and continues in low volume to this day. HONDA CR250R
Today, all big motorcycle companies are multinational. Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Triumph all have plants in Southeast Asia.
China and India supply parts for motorcycles built all over the world. In the late ‘70s, however, the concept of overseas manufacturing for any specific market was in its infancy. One of Honda’s first non-Japanese assembly plants was actually in the U.S.; right in Marysville, Ohio. The first bike produced there was the 1979 CR250R.
That was an anomalous year, though, with several unconventional designs including a 23-inch front wheel, and no one truly considered it an American motorcycle. By 1980, CR250R manufacturing was moved back to Japan. Mark Tilley testing the Highland Outback. HIGHLAND
If you’re a regular reader of Dirt Bike Magazine, you might know the story of Highland Motorcycles.
Gunnar Lindstrom wrote a comprehensive history of the brand for the October, 2024 issue, and it can now be found here. For most others, the story is virtually unknown.
Highland motorcycles were designed by Swedish engineer Mats Malmberg and produced briefly in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There were big plans for motocross bikes, adventure bikes and ATVs. It all came to an end in 2010 when Malmberg and two other Highland executives were tragically killed in a plane crash. The company shut down shortly afterward.
ZERO
Zero got its start in 2006 building what would today be called an e-Moto, predating Surron by at least 10 years. It has become the world’s most successful electric motorcycle company, producing street bikes, police bikes and dual-sport bikes for a world-wide market. The original design plant in Santa Cruz, California was quickly moved to Scotts Valley, where final assembly for many models remains today. But, as global demand increased, a factory was opened in the Philippines and the actual headquarters was moved to the Netherlands.
COBRA
Cobra Moto is the most American of all the U.S. motorcycle makers. It’s also one of the most successful companies in the world when it comes to racing history.
The original Cobra 50 debuted in 1994, and since then the company has earned over 300 championships in mini amateur racing. Nowadays, the factory is in Hillsdale, Michigan where it continues to make frames and engines from the ground up.
Some components are sourced overseas, but Cobra motorcycles are just as American as Ford or Harley-Davidson. ALTA
The Alta Redshift was the first electric bike that could compete with gasoline-powered dirt bikes. The project was started in 2007 under the name BRD. A group of engineers showed up at the AIM show with a prototype electric motor in a Honda chassis hoping to secure funding to carry the project further.
They eventually got to the production phase, but never found the backing they needed for full-scale production. At one point it looked like Harley-Davidson would be their benefactor, but that fell through and the company went out of business in 2018. Today, BRP has acquired the intellectual property and used it to create the Can-Am Origin electric dual-sport bike. This certainly isn’t a comprehensive list. But, I’m pleased to say I’ve tested or ridden every motorcycle on this list (although I was too big to ride the Cobra myself). They were all real and all had a lasting impact on the sport. See you next time! –Ron Lawson
